New Yorker sues over circumcision flap

NEW YORK (JTA) — A Jewish New Yorker is suing a European organization for saying he was not circumcised.

John Singer is suing Centropa, a research group focusing on Jewish life and culture, for libel over an interview it published with Singer’s mother in which she said neither of her sons was circumcised, according to news reports.

Singer says the assertion is false and that the publication of the interview on the center’s Web site has caused “severe embarrassment, mental anguish and extreme emotional distress.”

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, seeks unspecified damages.

According to The New York Times, the lawsuit may hinge on whether Singer can prove that his reputation as a male member of the Jewish community was damaged by the statement that he was not circumcised.